This quotation is from the opening chapter of “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens and surely very relevant to the present situation today in the whole world. Certainly it is the worst of times with the death rate from the coronavirus rising daily in all countries, with the selfish panic buying of food leaving shelves in supermarkets empty and pharmacies devoid of basic medicines and with scammers trying to sell false health items for the virus. Who of us was not moved by the tearful interview with Dawn, the critical care nurse who, after a 14 hour hospital shift and on her way home, was unable to buy food for her family due to the selfishness of the panic buyers.

The second part of the above quotation is “It was the Best of Times..” Well, yes I think I would agree because it is the face of adversity that can bring out the best in human nature as well as the worst. We are witnessing incredible acts of kindness as people shop for the vulnerable shut-ins. I live in Sheltered Housing and the son of one of our residents put a note through everyone’s door offering to buy or fetch anything for us during the present crisis. I thought this was incredibly kind of him as not all of us have family to give us outside help. The return to work of our retired doctors and nurses to help our overstretched NHS is also much appreciated. The feeling that we are all in it together makes me feel that we are all one big family. Watching other countries who are also coping with this health emergency has made me feel closer to them also and I realise how alike we all are despite our different nationalities.

Some people wonder why God allows things like this plague to happen. I have never believed that God has anything to do with the terrible events of the world. I believe that the human race, by their behaviour, bring about such events and are the cause of much suffering and illnesses. “Mad cow disease” was caused by feeding the remains of dead sheep to vegetarian cows who, in turn, were slaughtered and fed to humans. We must investigate how this virus came into being and make sure it does not happen again. I believe that good can come out of evil and that the world will end up a better place when this is all over.

As a Spiritualist, I want to reassure people that there is no death and that the loved ones they have lost from this terrible plague are alive and well in the next world. Until our time comes to join them let us all concentrate on making this earth a better place to live in by helping to wipe out all disease and suffering, respect other life forms and care for the environment and our planet.

How will history view our response to this pandemic? During the last war our country faced almost certain defeat at the hands of the enemy on the beaches of Dunkirk. Against the odds we went out and rescued them in a flotilla of different boats — fishing boats, lifeboats, sailing boats and many others. Thus we turned the event into a victory whereby they could return to fight another day. This inspired the saying “The Dunkirk Spirit.” The MacMillan Dictionary defines this as “an attitude of being very strong in a difficult situation and refusing to accept defeat.”

So everybody, let us all show the world that we Brits still have this Dunkirk Spirit and by working together we can to defeat this invisible enemy. Let us put up with the inconveniences without grumbling, let us realize that cancelled events have only been postponed and can be enjoyed at a future date, let us lend a hand and help one another. Obey our Government’s advice to safeguard ourselves, assist the vulnerable in our society, protect the next generation and above all let us pray to God to send help from the next world to our research scientists to quickly discover a vaccine to put an end to the present pandemic.

I am offering a free copy of my book “Why I am a Spiritualist” to anyone interested. Please contact me by email [email protected]